The sun is shining bright, the flowers are popping in their prettiest colors, and it’s time to relish in the beauty of spring. What better way to do that than with a meal with friends at a table perfectly set for the season? To inspire your plans, here we give you eight spring table setting ideas for party-perfect brunch, lunch, or dinner.
After you’ve added some fun seasonal decor throughout your home (including on your front porch, of course!), it’s time to pretty up your dining table with a simple and inexpensive idea. You can DIY a centerpiece, add a runner or tablecloth, and set out some pretty plates and glassware, and boom, you have a delightful table ready to welcome your guests. For ideas on how to add spring color and charm to your table keep on scrolling.
Start with a quilt tablecloth base.
Forget your traditional tablecloth and instead let Grandma’s best pastel quilt be the star of the show. From there, coordinate your place settings to pull from the colors in the quilt, and let it inspire the hues of your flower arrangement too. Here, a light pink salad plate layered atop a lilac-patterned dinner plate is paired with a simple white napkin that doesn’t distract from the statement-making quilt base.
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Gather wildflowers.
Pretty wildflowers casually arranged in simple glass vessels (even milk bottles or mason jars) is the perfect way to start a springtime table setting. Then let that floral beauty inspire the remaining details of your table. Vintage plates with a bracelet-like border or embroidered napkins will lend more floral whimsy. Here, in this springy setting, three-inch embroidery hoops embellished with blooms make for fresh-picked placecards.
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Create a fruit centerpiece.
Flowers are a given when it comes to centerpieces, but don’t forget about the other bounty of the season. Consider arranging your favorite fruit in a pretty bowl as a centerpiece. Here, dragon fruit makes for an easy, striking centerpiece displayed in a handmade Tamegroute bowl from Morocco, complementing the reds in some of the porcelain plates at each setting. A gingham tablecloth serves as a sunny backdrop for the whole setting.
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Choose a serene setting.
Sometimes the table is less about the items that top it than its literal setting. And with all the beauty that appears outdoors in the spring, why not move your table and dining chairs to an idyllic spot out in the yard? Here, a creekside setting sets the stage for designer Lyndsey Zorich’s dinner table, with an elegant blue-and-white tablecloth draping the table grass-to-tabletop. Potted herbs and a bouquet of flowers bring more color to the table to complete the informal look.
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Take cues from foraged blooms.
Speaking of natural surroundings, let the blooms around your home be the basis of a simple and elegant table. Here clippings from dogwood branches line the center of the table atop a white runner. For added color, stagger small bud vases holding individual blooms, and place petal pink napkins (in dogwood napkin rings, of course!) atop white plates and sage green placemats. Wood-handled flatware references the branches and pretty footed glassware makes it all sparkle.
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Let your cabbageware shine.
The pretty greens of vintage-style cabbageware are a sure statement maker on any table—no matter how casual or dressy. Here, it dresses up a wooden outdoor table under a pergola and pairs well with additional pops of green in plaid napkins, glass candleholders, and potted plants. Heirloom silverware, etched wine glasses, and raffia placemats complete the look.
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Embrace terra-cotta.
While every spring tablescape should of course embrace flowers, why not feature earthy terra-cotta as its complement? For a casual look, skip the tablecloth and use 12-inch terra-cotta plant saucers as chargers. Place freshly clipped flowers in terra-cotta pots instead of glass and complete the look with mini ceramic “place pots” filled with moss and topped with an egg (or pretty pebbles or simply hand-written placecards). To add to the ambiance, use hanging baskets as “chandeliers” above.
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Go big on bouquets.
We’ve talked a lot about different ways to incorporate flowers in your tablescape, but we’d be remiss to not say that a few extra-large bouquets can make a delightful table with a big impact. Here, on this outdoor table designed by cookbook author and Top Chef winner Kelsey Barnard Clark, the neutral colors in a gingham tablecloth make the perfect base for sunflowers, hydrangeas, and other bold blooms for a casual lunch table.
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